June 13, 2003
Greetings Accumulators!
When one of these Friday newsletters falls on the 13th I like to take a
moment to think about superstitions. Other people's supersitions amuse me,
perhaps because I don't have many of my own. I will not, however, ever
place my handbag on the floor, because someone once told me "it signifies
poverty". Not to mention that the floor is a dirty place. If you have, or
have heard of an unusual superstition, please let me know about it. No
black cats or walking under ladders, please - I want the weird ones only.
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF MISSING THE POINT OF YOUR OWN EXISTENCE
Poor eBay. It is not content to be considered the world's largest garage
sale; a place for collectibles and other flotsam. No, eBay has ambitions.
It wants the world to think of it as marketplace for all things, including
new items, and fixed price items as well. So, eBay decided to sponsor a
designers' show house in New York City. Each of six designers was given a
different room in a Beekman Place penthouse apartment to decorate, with
varying budgets and the stipulation that all or most of the items used to
furnish the rooms had to be purchased on eBay. And guess what? The
designers with the most eBay experience bought mostly used or old things.
The only ones who bought new things were the two with no eBay experience,
and they found it a tedious way to shop. So eBay is still stuck down here
with the rest of us scavengers. For now, anyway. There is a web site
associated with the project and beginning Monday, there will be a virtual
tour of the apartment. On October 23, the contents will be auctioned to
raise money for Alpha Workshops, a design studio that trains and employs
people with H.I.V. In the meantime, the apartment will be open for view in
person to The Trade only. Yes, that would be me, but I'm not going. So, go
take the virtual tour.
LINK
HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY DEPARTMENT
If you are a longtime reader of this newsletter, you know that we
Accumulators have a penchant for stories about stupid criminals. This one
is about a person who was not so much stupid as ignorant and out of the
mainstream. A beggar in Bulgaria was going through the trash behind an
accessories factory looking for salvageable metal when she came upon $7,000
worth of gold jewelry. There was a 10 per cent reward for the jewelry,
which had been mistakenly tossed out by a maintenance worker, but the
woman, Assia Mladenova, assumed it was left there by fleeing robbers. So,
she buried it in a vineyard. When Mladenova tried to sell some of the
pieces back to the factory, she was caught by police and forced to return
it all - with no reward. Okay, so maybe she is stupid.
AND THEN THERE'S REALLY, REALLY STUPID
Wan Song, an Alaskan woman, borrowed $50,000 from friends and relatives to
pay for her husband's surgery. She never shared this information with her
husband. Instead she hid the money. Can you see the potential for mishap
here? Mrs. Song wrapped the money in aluminum foil and sewed it into one
of their children's old teddy bears, which she then hid in the back of a
cupboard. The family then decided to participate in their church's white
elephant sale. So they took a whole bunch of miscellaneous stuff down to
the church. The sale was such a success that the church began to run out of
items to sell. Mr. Song decided to go back to their house to see what else
they could part with. Yes, I know what you are thinking, Dear Accumulators.
More predictable than "All My Children". Mr. Song rummaged around in the
cupboard, found the teddy bear and took it down to the church. It was
promptly snapped up by a woman with two young girls. They paid $1 for it.
Mrs. Song was understandably upset when she heard the news. At first she
told no one, but then decided that if she made herself known, the buyer
would take pity on her and return the bear, so she made a public appeal to
have the bear returned to the family. The buyer should have no trouble
locating Mrs. Song. She's the one in the corner hitting herself on the head
with a hammer.
SITE TO SEE
Carthalia: If you are a collector of old postcards, then you know how it
is. You start out with one subject. You're only going to collect that one
topic. The next thing you know, you have albums and shelves and rooms full
of old postcards. They are fascinating and educational and there's never an
end to the collection. At Carthalia, we see the collection of one Andreas
Praefcke of Germany. His collection encompasses cards from all over the
world. The theme is theaters. And boy does he have a lot of postcards
depicting theaters! They are organized by country - don't miss the cards
from Kazakhstan - and within each country, by city. Worth a look!
LINK
Oh, don't even ask what we're doing this weekend. The weather is so awful
again, we are agenda-less. Although, there is an interesting charity
auction in Monticello, New York tomorrow night. It's at Malek Auction
Sales, 956 East Broadway. The proceeds will be used to benefit the Delaware
Valley Arts Alliance. This information courtesy of Rich Delia of Ferndale
Marketplace in Ferndale - a not-to-be-missed antiques center if you're in
the area. HWITLOML and I will try to make it if we can. Have a great
weekend, Accumulators. Happy hunting!
Best,
Judith
© 2003 Judith Katz-Schwartz. All rights reserved.
Antiques and Collectibles Newsletter #220
U.S. Library of Congress
ISSN 1520-4464
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